Un-brace Yourself

A few people have suggested that my getting braces was a sign of a mid-life crisis. Believe what you will. About 12 months ago, I asked my kids' orthodontist to straighten my disorderly teeth. You'd be surprised how many adults have braces. They're almost fashionable.

I appear to be digressing, but the braces are necessary back story. You recall that I needed an MRI, and I scheduled one for the following week. Meanwhile, I continued to research my topic, and found my way to good information on breast MRI. The website was very informative about how the technician injects the patient with dye to get a good read, and how the patient is positioned on her stomach, blah, blah, blah. All of this was good to know, and I skimmed the list of details, until one bit of information jumped off the webpage. This was a very clear instruction to remove all metal from one's body, because metal and MRI were incompatible.

My brain began to churn. Could no metal include the braces cemented to the enamel of my teeth? I dialed the hospital where I had scheduled the MRI. The woman I spoke to had no clue. "Are they titanium?" she asked. Was I supposed to know this? "Go ask your orthodontist if you can have an MRI," she instructed me. (Can I just say that my confidence in this medical facility was now trending downward.)

I did go to see the orthodontist. He confirmed my suspicions -- no MRI with braces. Now every adult who has braces wants them off yesterday, but we really don't want them off until our teeth are straight. To the untrained eye, my teeth looked great, but were they truly ready to be released from their restraints. And why was I considering this anyway. I had much larger issues to confront that trumped the alignment of incisors.

I confided in the orthodontist that breast cancer was driving the MRI. After his momentary shock subsided, he looked closely at my mouth, told his technician to strip my braces, and ordered a rush on my retainers. He assured me that I could finish my treatment with removable appliances.

So one good thing happened in a period of crazy developments. As I was leaving his office, the orthodontist whispered to me that he hoped getting my braces off would lift my spirits. And it did. I had my smile back.